10 Things I Love About Qlik® GeoAnalytics™

10 Things I Love About Qlik® GeoAnalytics™

You may have heard about the new Qlik® GeoAnalytics™ and its many uses, as well as the cool maps you can create with the software. I have been using GeoAnalytics since January, when Idevio was acquired by Qlik®, and re-branded to Qlik® GeoAnalytics™. It is an outstanding software, and I have found many benefits as I not only create maps from a blank canvas, but also as I add maps to existing apps. There are many more features of GeoAnalytics, but here is a list of 10 things that I love about Qlik® GeoAnalytics™:

Ease of Use
GeoAnalytics™ is currently a set of extensions in Qlik® that you simply drag and drop onto the canvas. It allows multiple map layers to be shown at one time, and you can add various layer types, such as point/bubble, line, and area. A great aspect of GeoAnalytics™ is that it uses a Connector “wizard” to guide you through setting up the analytics process, so you don’t have to start with coding. It then inserts the generated script so you can edit as needed.

Great Looking Maps
The map background is OpenStreetMap, a frequently updated source map of the World (https://www.openstreetmap.org), so you have up-to-date, detailed maps to overlay your custom layers onto. You can even change the map background to a different map type. Thematic colors based on dimensions and measures are robust and allow you to make layers as transparent as you prefer, showing other underlying layers.

Integrated Location Library
GeoAnalytics™ connects to an integrated library with approximately 6.1 million point and area features. (Yep, that’s right!) They have various boundary and point data for administrative areas: 206 countries with 1st level admin areas (states, provinces), 10 countries with 2nd level admin areas (such as U.S. Counties), zip code areas for 19 countries, zip code points for 76 countries, and so on. The base package hosts the library externally, so there’s no need to store large spatial data-sets locally or on a server. As a result, there is no need for third party vendors to provide these basic geographic data.

Fast and On the Fly Point and Area Lookups
Using the integrated library above, you can quickly look up states, counties, cities, airports, zip codes, latitude and longitude coordinates, and even IP addresses. These named lookups are performed immediately using the GeoAnalytics™ server and the resulting boundaries and/or points are shown on the maps.

Perform Spatial Analytics
This is the highlight that sets GeoAnalytics™ apart; it provides out of the box spatial analytics that are performed using the hosted server (an on premise option is available as well). Using spatial analytics enables you to accomplish more than the basic tasks; they include:

Within

Closest

Cluster

Dissolve/Simplify

Intersects

Binning, hexagonal and rectangular

Heat Maps

Spatial Index

Routes

Travel Areas (Drive/Time Areas)

Draw lines and arcs between points

These spatial analytic processes are built in as part of base package, so there is no additional custom coding or add-ons required; you can get started right away!

Drill-Down Mapping Capabilities

GeoAnalytics™ gives you the tools to create impressive “drill-down” maps that allow the user to click on a map item and rapidly zoom to the underlying layer. You can build layer upon layer, and zoom through the hierarchy; i.e., from state to county to zip code. Even the Binning layers can drill down, so you can go from hexagonal binning areas to view the underlying point clusters. This is particularly useful when you want to show store sales by state, then county, then zip code.

Indoor Mapping Capabilities

You can use building schematics and AutoCAD files to map internal building layouts and perform this latest trend in spatial analytics, such as viewing store locations within shopping malls and analyzing where customers spend the most time: in front of specific stores, within the store, etc. This can be used to determine the best locations to place marketing signage, inventory, and so on.

Animation Controls

One of my favorite features, animation, allows you to create time lapse animations on the map, showing changes by year, month, etc. You can also animate based on other measures, such as airports by name; the animation will zoom from airport to airport, with a time delay that you specify such as “every 5 seconds”. Pretty cool!

Connectivity

Highly important, GeoAnalytics™ has connection options for ESRI Shapefiles, GeoJSON, EsriJSON, AutoCAD DXF, and WMS; it also has database connectivity using GeoAnalytics™ Plus as well as Enterprise Server. On-premise or cloud-based options are available; on-premise works well for companies with sensitive information, such as healthcare.

It Works with Qlik!

Need I say more? You have the ease of use and interactivity of Qlik®, with hover popups, drill-down charts and maps, corresponding tables, interesting color combinations, and amazing visualization power, all with the classic green/white/grey that Qlik® users immediately recognize. GeoAnalytics works seamlessly with QlikView® and Qlik Sense®, and you can rapidly add maps to your existing apps.

Just by adding these extensions, you can gain immediate geospatial insight into your customers, patients, locations, stores, routes – actually just about any spatial data. As I like to say, if data has a location, you can probably map it. There are so many industries that can utilize GeoAnalytics to improve their understanding of spatial relationships such as healthcare, manufacturing, retail, oil and gas, real estate, energy and utilities, the arts, and many more.

Viewing your spatial data on an interactive map is so much better than trying to gain insight into your spatial correlations by looking at a spreadsheet. With these tools, you can quickly see on a map those areas that need additional focus, and those that are exceeding expectations!

Come and visit with me at the Axis Group’s booth (#701) at Qonnections 2017, and watch me show the exciting Tesla Supercharger Location maps demo!

About Deanna:

Deanna has a degree in Geography with concentrations in GIS and Medical Geography. She began using ESRI products 20 years ago in 1997, as well as MapInfo and Alteryx for 12 years. She leads the Dallas Alteryx User Group, with over 150 members, and specializes in spatial and demographic analytics along with retail site selection. She loves ancient maps and fast computers.